The Graduate School of Banking at Colorado (GSBC) has elected three bankers to its Alumni Advisory board, effective July 26, 2019.

Quentin Leighty, office president and chief financial officer of First National Bank of Las Animas in Monument, CO, will serve a three-year term on the GSBC Alumni Advisory Board.

Leighty has been with First National Bank of Las Animas since 2005. He currently heads the Asset/Liability Management (ALM) division, manages the investment portfolio and serves as a lender. Leighty graduated from the Montfort College of Business at the University of Northern Colorado in 2002 and GSBC with honors in 2008. He serves as a director on the board of Bankers’ Bank of the West and the Independent Bankers of Colorado in addition to vice chairman of the Safety and Soundness Committee of the Independent Community Bankers of America. Prior to working at First National Bank of Las Animas, Leighty was the assistant vice president and controller at Pacifica Bank in Belleview, WA.

He is active in his community, serving on various local boards and committees. Leighty is also an active member of his church. In his free time, he loves spending time with his wife and four kids skiing or exploring Colorado on ATVs.

Leighty succeeds Jeff Benson, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Bankers’ Bank of the West in Denver, CO as the board’s Colorado advisor.

Justin Wagner, chief lending officer of Mid-Missouri Bank in Springfield, MO, will serve a three-year term on the GSBC Alumni Advisory Board.

Wagner has held various positions in lending, including residential real estate and commercial lending, and has experience in correspondent banking, branch management and has previously served as a community president. Wagner has a degree in finance from Columbia College and is a 2011 graduate of GSBC.

Outside the bank, Wagner spends time with his wife Bridget and their two children, Brooke and Cooper. He also likes to play golf, coach baseball and enjoy time at the lake doing anything and everything water-related.

Wagner succeeds Sheila Noll, executive vice president and chief operations officer of Midwest Independent Bank in Columbia, MO, as the board’s Missouri advisor.

Brandon Lee, president and CEO of Union State Bank in Clay Center, KS, will serve a three-year term on the GSBC Alumni Advisory Board.

Lee, who was born and raised in Clay Center, graduated from Kansas State University, and has experience as a credit manager, consumer lender and a branch manager. Upon moving back to his hometown after college, Lee owned and operated Republican Valley Title before becoming a vice president and loan officer for Union State Bank in 2011.

Lee is a 2016 graduate of GSBC and served as executive vice president at Union State Bank before obtaining his current role as president and CEO in 2017. He has served on the bank’s board of directors since 2015. Lee is married to Sally and is the father of Isaac, Simon and Isley.

Lee succeeds Kathy Schwerdtfager, chief credit officer of Bank of Tescott in Lincoln, KS, as the board’s Kansas advisor.